NORTH COAST 2024–PART II

[Sharphooks]

Last year on the same nav route, I laid down bread crumbs for the trip north.

It was all new water for me (until I reached Port Hardy, where I used to begin these trips in smaller boats)

In new water, we tend to motor a bit slower, not only to take in the sights but because we don’t know the route —-there’s a natural tendency to be cautious. This year I had all the bread crumbs laid out before me so it was a high RPM kind of day.

We went through the Yucultas in short order, refueled in Port McNeil, put Cape Caution behind us, then pulled into Rivers Inlet early that afternoon

A quick walk on the beach so the dog could do her business, then perfect timing to drop a hook into the water for the high slack tide. Stuck in the middle of a pack of Grady White guide boats, almost immediately I got a huge take down.

It turned out to be a white spring. As I suspected there would be a Province wide fire ban enacted in the next few days, and as I really wanted to treat my daughter to a BBQ on the beach before the ban, I did what I’ve never done before on these trips…..I kept the first fish of the trip.

Yes, after grilling it to perfection my eyes rolled back in my head on the first taste. OMG—- white spring!

Even the dog knew something special had just come off that grill

Next stop was Hakkai. I had been hyperventilating about that place, promising my daughter that she'd be seeing beach after beach after beach that would blow her mind

The water lay down one morning (sort of) and we went outside to try and find the notable "Staircase" in a thick fog. We missed it the first time then the fog cleared and we got to see that remarkable geologic formation carved into the rocks

What happened next got my attention. I hooked a big spring right at the base of the staircase in what I recall were 4-5 foot swells with a 15 mph wind blowing.

No problem, right? Well it became a big problem. The tide was running like nuts, the fish took huge line off my reel (braid) and I couldn't get control of the boat when the spring went around the bow, under the boat, and then around the stern near the outdrives and props of my 3 engines. Meanwhile, I had an inflatable raft lashed to the port side of the boat so whatever I did with the fish had to be from the starboard side. It dawned on me that things could get worse in a hurry....I was too close to the rocks at Odlum Point and I hesitated to fire up the Suzukis because that fish had pulled so much braid off my reel and spinning up braid into my Suzukis could put an exclamation poin t on the trip. I was on full alert.

Short story: when the hook finally pulled it was a huge relief. And I realized at that moment that braid is really nice to have and use for spring fishing.....until it ain't. And that realization would come back to haunt me later in the trip